Duae Mentiss Singulus Somes
by MisterTabi
Summary: When Charles Di Britannia replaced Lelouch's memories, it had been entirely intentional. But he never would have expected that his runt of a son wouldn't have ever become more powerful than him if he HADN'T suppressed his memories. Abandoned due to angst.
1. Breaking of the Psyche

**Duae Mentiss Singulus Somes**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Code Geass, nor anyn other emotion for that matter.

When Charles Di Britannia replaced Lelouch's memories, it had been entirely intentional. He intended to make sure the former prince would live and eventually break free. He fully intended for the psyche of the terrorist Zero to re-emerge within Area 11, with the help of C.C.

But.

He never would have expected that his runt of a son wouldn't have ever become more powerful than him if he  
hadn't suppressed his memories.

- - - - -

It was one of those times, a brief moment of bliss and happiness that Zero could reside within the warm recesses of his mind, plotting and devising schemes too complex for normal beings to ever comprehend. Lelouch the Black Prince of Britannia was not in control at the moment. No, he was simply resting as Lelouch the Normal Student with pre-fabricated memories was in control, oblivious to everything around him, happily talking to Shirely, Rolo, and Suzaku. Mentally he plotted, and watched from behind the mask he never even needed to craft.

He expected this, but it was to his advantage his personality was able to take a life of it's own, capable of forging lies that it saw as truths, speaking lies it knew it was truth, treating Rolo like the brother he had always had. That part of the plot had become feasible, especially after he broke poor Rolo's psyche. Whenever Rolo would come in need of love, he would allow his fake brotherliness surface to comfort him, go as far as to gaze at the young boy with genuine love in his eyes and give him a hug, telling him not to worry. And then he would subtly return, back in complte control. It was easy...at first. It was so very easy to just bubble back up to the surface, his powerful mind, augemented by his Geass, to simply shift, no _push_, the _weak_ and _feeble_ **fake** psyche out of the way.

So very easy...always at first. Then things got complicated afterwards. At first he allowed Lelouch the Fake, as he had come to call the psyche his fath-no that man had created, to simply face normal life as it was, greeting Suzaku eaisly and giving the traitor reason to believe he was still clueless. The same he was able to evade the cameras in his room. Reinforced with subtle and unconsious acting from his lair within the subconsious, Lelouch the Black Prince, the alter ego Zero, was able to commit acts of treason within Ashford itself without alerting the Secret intelligence agents around him.

Rolo never noticed the split nano-second changes within Lelouch, to the poor mentally-starved boy, Lelouch was the one who gave him unconditional love, care, and hugs that kept him going.

Now that he thought about it, mused Zero, it was much like Mao. The parallels between Lelouch and Rolo to C.C. and Mao were close, though minute and second differences made all the difference.

It was almost as if it was meant to be this way...Zero pursed his lips as he re-emerged from the shell that was Lelouch the Fake.

- - - - -

"Happy Birthday, Ms. Villeta. "

- - - - -

"Now all thats left is Suzaku..." Lelouch the Black Prince muttered to himself as he efficiently pocketed the cellphone and it's hyperwave -coder.

He gazed for a moment out to the lights of the Govermental Building when a familiar set of footsteps reached his ears.

"Lelouch."

Lelouch descended as he turned, the pre-fabricated psyche lsiding back into place as he greeted his old, tratorous, friend with a smile.

"The main character should be on the main stage," said Suzaku smoothly, his eyes easily hiding the sadness that resided within him every time he saw his old, traitorous, friend.

"Ah, no..."

"Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

Lelouch nodded blissfully as he gazed at the bright night, saying nothing.

"And there was something I wanted to tell you," added Suzaku quietly.

"What is it?"

"I plan on becoming the Knight One."

Lelouch the Fake chuckled with genuine admiration, "Hey, hey, that's the Empire's highest knight-"

But Suzaku interuppted easily through Lelouch's joking, "There's a privilege granted to the Knight of One that says he can recieve an Area of his choosing.

"I plan on asking for this area...asking for Japan..."

With stunned silence, Lelouch turned to face his old, _traitorous_, friend, stunned admiration for his daring. He gazed into thenother's eyes with silent curiosity.

"I lost a great friend, and an irreplacable woman," said Suzaku quieter still, "To prevent me from losing anyone else, I _will_ obatin that power."

Visibly, Lelouch felt an internal struggle, one that he could not identify, he also felt touched. Idiot, mutter Lelouch as he watched from behind his mask.

"So the japanese people won't need Zero anymore," explained Suzaku further, noticing the visible struggle in his old friend's face.

"Hmm, indirect rule, eh?" chuckled Lelouch after a moments painful silence, "You aiming for a protectorate?"

"This person has the answer to that," said Suzaku, "The new governor of Area 11 will take office next week."

Lelouch raised an impressed eyebrow, "A mere student like me can talk to the Governor?"

The honored britinnian eyed him for a moment before answering the phone, "This is Kururugi...Yes. He is right in front of me , yes."

Holding the phone out, both Lelouchs' took it and spoke their minds, "This is troubling, you know? Talking to high level people is just-"

"_Hello_? _Brother_?"

Suzaku had his right hand in pocket gripped the tranquilizer pistol as he saw Lelouch freeze at the voice. Inwardly he wanted to know, hoping that his friend's memories had not come back, if they had not then

"_Brother, this is you, right? Its me, Nunnally_."

Lelouch, the both of them could not move. Their eyes forzen in shock. One in a struggle to remember why this girl meant so importment to him, the other feeling a dreadful icicle penetrating the pit of his guts.

"_I'm heading there as governor_..."

Behind Lelouch, Suzaku watched in cold silence as he watched his friend's internal struggle.

"_Um, are you listening_?"

His hands trembled as Leloush the Fake tried to breathe, a swirling hurricane of emotions assaulting his mind as he inwardly fought for control.

"_Brother_?"

His hands were wrapped around his head as he tried to stop the trmors rushing through his ethereal body as the Prince wept, his control lost, wil to fight shattered. His precious was in the hands of the enemy. She was gone.

"_Its me, Nunnally_!"

'_Why_? _Why_? _Why_? _Why_? _WHY_?'

- - - - -

Bright green eyes flashed open as a young girl in the prince's bedroom felt a disturbance in Lelouch. She jumped to her feet, sending Pizza boxes everywhere as she looked towards the general direction of Lelouch's aura. There was a feeling of shock, regret, and the demented anger and pain that kept asking "why?'

She started foward, but felt her Prince's heart tear in two, again and again and again. She could not save him. Not this time.

_Lelouch..._

- - - - -

_Checkmate Lelouch._ Thought Suzaku grimly as he watched Lelouch's still figure suddenly convulse. He gripped the pistol and began to draw it out when the phone in Lelouch's hands cracked. Startled by the sudden sound, Suzaku pulled out the pistol as the plastic casing cracked apart. Whatever reaction he was expecting, this was not it. Lelouch's hand was bleeding profusely as the phone was crushed beneath his fingers, the State-Issued phone now labeled as trash as Lelouch the Fake let out a tortured scream.

Lelouch the Black Prince, Zero, collapsed, his psyche broken as he tried to pic up the pieces amidst a mental earthquake, tornado, hurricane, and volcano eruption at the same time. The Pre-fabricated memories were beginning to fall apart, particles of both real, truthes, and lies, and half-truths began mixing in from the real memories. Images and memories flashed before the mind's eyes of the formerly ignorant persona that Leloush had quartered for a year.

Down below, no one took notice, the music too loud, and the taking drowning the event upstairs on the roof.

Lelouch kept screaming as the crushed phone shattered on the stone floor, a bloody hand clutching his head, staining his face, right eye and hair with blood as he tried to ward off the images assaulting his mind. In blind pain he turned to face Suzaku, his left eye glowing with the familiar sigil glowing faintly.

"T-tell...me..."

His right hand clutching his right eye, Lelouch grated the words out through clenched teeth, his Geass flickering weakly as Suzaku raised the gun and fired it with a muted _pop!_ The dart hit Lelouch in the arm, but the dart that should cause him to fall unconscious had no visible effect. With what appaered to be stpendous effort, Leloush took a step forward, still questioning the young Knight in front of it.

His left eye flashed red.

Eyes widening, Suzaku unloaded the other three darts into his friend.

- - - - -

Down in the dance hall Rolo turned towards the roof, his innocent eyes wide with fear. Through his Geass, he could feel Lelou-no his _brother_'s turmoil. With a guilty look at a brooding Vitell sitting at a tableglaring jealously at the dancing couples, he turned and rushed through the halls to the elevator.

- - - - -

With a bellow that alarmed Suzaku even more than Lelouch's demented appearance, the former prince lunged at his friend with his left hand, grating out the same words: "T-tell...ME...w-who s-she...is-!" His features were like that of a demon, the angered Lelouch from a year ago, on that island, in that cave, his words bringing back those memories of the hated betrayal.

Eyes watering as his air supply was rapidly becoming dinimished, the Knight of Seven struck Lelouch several timed with the empty pistol, to no effect as the iron grip around his neck became increasingly tighter.

"TELL ME. Tell me _who_ she is!"

"_Lelouch_?"

Lelouch froze, as Nunnally's voice filtered through the broken lens of the miracilously functioning cell phone. The phone's screen died, tinged with a blue glow.

With a sudden kery movement, Suzaku found himself able to breathe. Eyes blurring from tears, he turned to see Lelouch cupping his hands around the destroyed phone, a small puddle of tears interminggling with blood.

"_Who are you_? _Why are you so important to me_? _Why_?! Tell me. _Tell me_! **Tell me**!"

In the middle of reloading his tranquilizer, Suzaku froze at those words. A shard of pity and doubt formed in his chest, the feeling seemed to freeze his entire body.

He perished the thought and fired the entire clip into his friend.

* * *

**You need not worry my fans, Tarva, also known as Tabi, is back! And this is not the end! I've been toying with this little muse for several days now, might be a bit too bland. Reviews appreciated as always. Still waiting on Episode 6.**

** - Tarva/Tabi**


	2. Dreamspaces and Confessions

**Duae Mentiss Singulus Somes**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Code Geass, nor any other emotions for that matter.

- - - - -

"Hows Lulu, Suzaku?"

"Hes fine, he'll have to stay in the hospital for the week though," replied the Eleven quickly adding upon the look on Shirley's face, "Its just a concussion! So I expect he'll be out for the time being. Might even have slight amnesia."

It was just the two of them in the Student Council room, sitting in a couch together in the bright sunset. Shirley had been tailing him all day, demanding to know what had happened to Lelouch; who was currently being held in a hospital under survelliance. As always.

She scruntched up her face, shaking her hair off her shoulders so they would cascade down her back, "And the guy who knocked him out?"

"Thats why me and Rolo are going to stay at his side until he wakes up," replied Suzaku evenly, "only me and his family, and the teachers are allowed to be near him at the moment, I doubt he might even know who it was who attacked him..."

Shirley fell into a depression again, with a sigh to boot, "Hows Rolo taking it?"

"Not good, somehow he managed to stabilize Lelouch before the ambulance came."

"I feel like-"

"Its not your fault Shirley," said Suzaku sharply, his eyes hardening, "There is in no way your fault. Its the guy who did this to him to blame!"

She crumpled into him, "You are such a good friend to Lelouch...If you hadn't been there..."

"No...no I'm not," he replied, wincing as she buried her face into his injured shoulder.

"Oh, your shoulder! I-um!"

"Its alright," he said getting up as he gently pushed Shirley away, "I have to head to the Hospital, some of the teachers want to question me there."

Without another word, he left her staring out into the sunset.

- - - - -

It had been easy lying to Shirley, and all the others, but it was the hardest to talk to Rolo. The boy had used his Gaess on him during an all out argument. After he showed them exactly what had happened.

_-Cue Flashback-_

_"Eight tranquilizer darts! EIGHT! You could've killed him!" screamed Rolo, his eyes filled with murderous rage, "What the hell were you thinking?!"_

_"If you haven't noticed, I have his fingermarks all over and around my damn throat," shot back Suzaku calmly._

_"But eight! Thats enough to down a goddamn elephant!"_

_"He had his Geass on, sort of. It seemed to be nullifying the effects-"_

_"And now he in a coma!"_

_"Stop it this instant you two!" roared Vistella, her yellow eyes flashing._

_The two young men shut their mouth, lips tight as they glared at each other before turning to her in rapt attention._

_"Thank you. Now tell me, what exactly did happen, Lord Suzaku?" probed the head of the SIA, her hands gripping each other._

_"I came here to verify on Lelouch's status as you know, seeing as your survaillence proved inconclusive, I took things into my own hands," said Suzaku carefully, "I discussed the plan with his Majesty himself, who agreed on it."_

_Rolo's eyes flickered to Vistella's, meeting each other for a second before going back into ignore-Suzaku-mode._

_"Go on," urged Vistella._

_"I found him up on the roof of the dance hall, after apparently making a suspicious phone call. I introduced him to the new Governor via phone call," said Suzaku grimly, "And he..."_

_He felt bile clog up his throat as he forced himself not to face Rolo's eyes, lest he betray the shame he felt._

_With an audible click the screen in front of them flickered to life._

_The camera that was hidden within the school patch on his chest moved about a bit when an audible tinny voice of Nannully called over from the phone's speakers, causing Lelouch to stiffen. A few minutes into the call, while Nanully tried to get her brother to speak, there was a loud crack as the hand gripping the phonebroke the plastic casing, crushing the metal components inside. The voice was cut off as the screaming began. They watched as Lelouch began to seize up and crumple to his knees as though in agony, dropping the crushed remains of the phone as blood seeped through the cuts of embedded plastic shards in his right hand as he gripped the side of his head while screaming gutturally._

_Rolo's eyes never left the screen, his hands gripping the cellphone and locket in a vicelike grip as he stared in horror._

_Vistella never knew the time she'd feel sadness for the man who had caused her such grief and even held her under his thumb, until now as the screaming turned into madness._

_The camera jerked back as Lelouch turned to face Suzaku, left eye flickering with that familiar sigil as he was shot once, then three more times, merely shrugging off the dosage that should be leaving him unconscious on the ground. The camera jerked away from Lelouch as the left side of his face became terrifyingly familiar; like that of the unmasked Zero, cruel and dangerous. _

_"T-tell...me...w-who-!"_

_The camera lurched as Lelouch's left hand shot out like lightning, causing the camera fumbling around in darkness, Suzaku was apparently choking in the background as he gasped for air, hitting Lelouch several times before he started shouting, causing booming sounds within the confined room._

_"TELL ME WHO SHE IS!"_

_There was an odd tinny sound as the shouting stopped, the single eye now glowing bright red as Lelouch apparently dropped Suzaku. Crawling back to the dropped phone, cradling the destroyed remains of the phone as he began to cry._

_Vistella wretched the her eyes away from the scene and turned to face the Knight of Seven, now looking thoroughly sick. She glanced at Rolo, who's hands were stark white as they gripped the chillingly similar cellphone. _

_"Tell me! Tell me! TELL ME!"_

_A gun clicked as it came into view, hesitating for a few seconds as the hand holding it trembled. Then it stiffened._

_Four consecutive shots ended the scene as the screen turned white. _

_The screen burned white for nineteen seconds before Suzaku found himself on the floor, suddenly feeling more pain than he thought was possible. Rolo was on top of him, using both fists to punch, tear, and strangle Suzaku at the same time, unnatural rage filling his red eyes. His reflexes kicked in, despite Rolo having a first strike advantage, he flipped the boy over onto his back and delivered a two hand strike to the throat. Rolor gasped, spittle peppering the floor as he heaved and tried to breathe. The boy fell to the floor, his face white from lack of air. Driven by sheer hate and anger, Rolo pushed himself to his feet and launched himself at the Knight of Seven, bloody murder etched on his face, his geass flashing red once again._

_This time Suzaku was ready as his fist struck Rolo in the skull with a crack, breaking his concentration and will. Another jab into the noggin felled the young killer._

_All lasted about half a minute of murderous fighting._

_To Vistella, it seemed Rolo's attack upon the Knight was somewhat justified; after all he had to magistrate as the target's brother for an entire year...all that hard work would be wasted if they could not capture C.C. But what he had done was most childish, and would definetly come with punishment. "Lord Suzaku-" she started._

_"I deserved that. More than that. Just another sin to add to my burden." With agonizing slowness Suzaku turned away from the gasping Rolo on the floor, catching sight of his sick face as he walked out of the room._

_Between the three young men, she had no idea what to feel at the moment, "...Yes. I suppose so."_

_-End Flashback-_

- - - - -

King Charles De Britannia groaned and rubbed his temples with two large hands, gritting his teeth as the migraine increased in strength. Popping another headache pill into his mouth he swallowed a cup of hot tea to wash it down. The migraine settled down slightly only to increase again a few minutes later. His Geass held the most powerful of the headaches back, but this was becoming annoying. He drank his tea, hoping the migraine would go away.

It didn't.

It wasn't long before a tic developed over his right eye.

- - - - -

Rolo hands kept flexing like it was on fire. Both were raw from slamming them into the Knight's well-toned body, but both itched to wrap themselves around his neck like Lelouch had done. He glanced at Lelouch and scowled at the Knight next to his brother. Never did he feel so much rage, hate, and jealousy. Despite his ordeal and state, Lelouch seemed to respone only to Suzaku whenever food was needed to be fed through his catonic lips. The two had gotten into another argument over deciding who was to feed the Lelouch vegetable, having accidentally scared off the nurse during their time giving each other death glares.

Neither of them spoke about the earlier scuffle, having passed it off to the others as accidents during Gym class. Between them, a blank-looking Lelouch was propped up against a pillow, wearing a nightdress, staring blankly out into the window. His right hand was heavily bandaged, as was his right eye, the surrounding flesh had been cut badly as the pieces of plastic from his right hand had nearly missed the eye itself. The silence in the room was tense, at the same time subdued. Suzaku was sitting on the opposite side of the room, near the window as he watched Lelouch's blank face for any sign of emotion.

Nothing.

At least nothing yet. After all this wasn't the first time he had observed this happening to Lelouch. The first time was when he truly betrayed his friend was in front of Charles De Britannia.

Suzaku could feel Rolo's eyes on him as he continued to watch Lelouch's face. It was like last time, right after King Britannia had used his own Geass on his best friend. The blank look was of like that of one's soul being removed from the body. He saw a hint of emotion within those previously blank violet eyes and felt hope. But the shadow of sudden understanding in those eyes disappeared as quickly as it had come, returning Lelouch's face back to the vegetable it was ever since he had woken six hours ago. He had already written a report of the incident to King Britannia, the message had been sent many hours ago, especially right after Lelouch had been hospitalized and made sure he would be safe. What had happened was obviously classified, even Rolo would not be able to know exactly why he had done what he had meant to do. What he never realized was how violent the reaction Lelouch had to the sound of Nunnally's voice. It was obvious how engrained the memories of Nannully truly were. Lelouch had based his life around his crippled little sister, he practically did everything for her, unwilling to let harm come to her even if it meant his own life would be taken. It was somewhat fanatical zealostrous of Lelouch, a trait he would not, but should have, expected from him.

Then again it was pretty much in his face. He began to wonder. Wonder how much power it had taken His Majesty to remove those memories of Nunnally. Once again that tiniest seed of doubt formed within himself, and again without hesitation, Suzaku crushed the thought and buried it deep down.

- - - - -

Darkness.

That was the only thing that could be seen. Absolute darkness.

For how long he had been here he had no idea. This murky place was completely unfamiliar to him, he also hurt all over. Deep down. There were no injuries he knew of, not that he could see anything. His eyes searched for a source of light, nothing. His aches and pain pushed him on, forcing him to move on forwards despite his apparent injuries. Despair was beginning to set in, like it had always had ever since he had woken up in the darkness. A shiver traveled down his spine as he felt an unfounded fear stab through him. Turning he saw a pair of hideous eyes. But they were not like any human eyes he had seen, these were cold, calculating, and evil. And they were extremely familiar. They seemed to be boring through him, as though he was transparent. Fear seemed to root him to the spot as he tried to find the strength to look away and run away. It seemed like an eternity before those terrifying eyes blinked.

The moment those eyes disappeared for a single second, he ran. He ran and kept running, his pain and despair kept him running, all the way he never dared to look back.

Those fearful eyes were in fact his own.

Never. He would never become as cold and evil as those pair of purple eyes that he had seen.

Never.

Running was never his strong suit, he soon tired, but he never stopped running. It was like an eternity before he ran into something. The enviroment sudden changed, blanching his eyes until they became white. He stumbled, tripping over his own tired feet before crashing into the ground. The sudden change in light, temperature seemed to have stunned him as he adjusted to this change. The room was large, one end had a full view of the gardens outside, a mirror showed him in a sorry state, covered in cuts, scratches and a torn uniform. He was in a room that he easily recognized, the same room where Rolo had lived with him for all these years. Except there was a different aura about this place. He soon saw why.

"Brother! Look."

_That voice!_

He turned to see a young beautiful girl sitting where Rolo should be, holding a large origami crane to someone who's face was slightly blurred at the edges. That someone was dressed in an odd uniform, with a magnificent cloak and mask. The man's outline was blurred at the edges as he made sure his mask was on tight before turning to face him.

It was Zero.

- - - - -

"Aren't they pretty, brother?" asked Nunnally, exceitedly, as she folded another complicated set of origami in front of him. Lelouch blinked away tears and grinned, "Yes they are, Nunnally."

"I'm going to make a crane now, so watch carefully."

"I will..."

She couldn't hear him. This was only a memory after all. But it didn't stop him from releasing his pent up emotions as he walked through scenes of him and his sister. Each one showed his obvious affection for her, his doting, his love. Each one brought more pain, the fact that he had lost her to the very establishment that he had tried to protect her from. He was dressed in his Zero costume, mask cradled in his hands as he blinked away yet more tears. This scene was a favorite of his. It was one of the many that he had spent time with her during the weekends where there was only him and her, happily exchanging musings and origami.

"Brother! Look," prodded Nunnally as she held up a crane. He smiled for a moment, tears dripping off his chin as he clipped the mask to his head whipering, "Its beautiful, Nunnally."

He felt that familiar presence of that of the fake persona that had taken a life of it's own. He turned to face that presence, appalled to find the young man before him in an outrageous condition he would never put himself into. Lelouch was covered in many scratches, many of them bleeding profusely. Behind his mask Lelouch's Smile grew cold.

"Hello, my innocent impostor."

* * *

**Second chapter, this is about a day after Lelouc had a violent mental breakdown, so it won't clash with canon. Enjoy!**


	3. The Seperation of Minds Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Code Geass or any other emotion for that matter.

- - - - -

"Hello, my innocent imposter."

The words seemed to strike him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as he struggled to reply. Behind the infamous terrorist leader, the girl continued to chatter onwards, oblivious to the danger that was next to her. The chair next to her, the one Zero had occupied moments before, had an odd blurred figure in it, as though Zero had left a show or an imprint on it.

"Who are you?"

"The question is who are you," replied Zero calmly despite the scathing noise Lelouch had made, "_I_ am your past, present, and future"

"Impossible."

"Define the impossible."

Lelouch glared at the infuriating man before him, "You are impossible. How can you be my past, my present? I know what _my_ past is-"

"Your past is a lie."

The words stung at first, but they soon felt like it had gutted him, spilling his innards all over the carpet floor as Zero gazed at him stoically, "My past is the truth. You are merely a puppet given temporary life."

"No. That isn't…its not possible, my life has _is_ real. My life has been with Rolo from day one," he said unmoved, "You cannot disprove that."

Zero shook his head, "I cannot disprove your feelings for Rolo, nor can I disprove that you are his brother. What I _can_ disprove is your past." Zero turned towards the girl, whispering something almost sadly before snapping his fingers. The room before them dissolved, disintegrating into a swirl of colors. The girl smiled and laughed, her thinking voice echoing before fading away like herself.

"We were essentially one of the more mysterious of people in the grand scheme of things. One born of royalty, a mother of common blood married to royalty. To _that man_."

The scene blurred into existence, revealing the mighty bulk of a man, curled hair like a powdered wig on top of his shoulders as he walked towards them like a massive fleshy pyramid, his eyes, both of them glimmering maliciously.

"He advocated Darwinism to the extreme, calling for the entire family to battle each other in a singular psychological and subtle battle for dominance…and the eventual right for the throne. Our Mother was one of the victims of that psycho's plans."

The scene flickered, now showing the shock and fear that crept through the picture. Blood was dripping to the floor. A miniature figure of the young girl from before was frozen still, her eyes unmoving as she tried to breathe through the paralyzing trauma as her mother lay dead on top of her. High above them, an equally shocked and traumatized Lelouch stood on the steps, his eyes wide. A spark was born in those eyes. A spark that still burned to this day.

"I called out on the King, asking why he did not protect her, my mother from the threat that had killed her. He then believed me to be weak and powerless without him and proceeded to cast his wife's children to Japan as political hostages. We lived our life there until present day."

Images flashed by as they imprinted themselves into the fabricated, slowly merging as Lelouch breathed them in, drank them, and flowed into them. Truth began to fall about him, telling him that he was the fake, the imposter, the reason Lelouch was halted in his destiny to greatness.

He turned to face Zero, his body shaking, "You…are you. But what about…_me_?"

Zero knelt down to hold the shivering copy of himself, embracing him, "In many ways you are what I could have been, would have been, in another world. One that is happy and heartwarming. You are now without purpose, now that I have shown you the truth. I wanted to break the circle of wanton death and destruction, by beating destiny and fate at its own game and win. Then I can create a world where peace can reign."

Lelouch raised his head, eyes locking onto Zero's mask as it hissed open, revealing his own. The two were similar, not the same. One was full of innocence, the other calculating and old, his eyes having seen death and suffering.

"I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, with my word and my Geass, ask you. Do want a purpose in life?"

"…Yes."

"Then your purpose in life shall be ours, united as one, for together, we can create a world where we can both live in peace."

"…Thank you."

- - - - -

Rolo felt a familiar tap in his mental mind, telling him it was time. Suzaku was staring at the window, apparently transfixed by a butterfly. The precence was darwing closer and closer.

So he activated his Geass.

Time stopped, for the people in that room at least and the guards outside at least. The door opened revealing a disguised C.C. who was here for one thing only. Lelouch.

Or a part of him.

Rolo, eyed for a second, "Time limit."

"I know."

She placed her head near Lelouch's speaking in undertone. The blank stare in the young man's face ebbed away, his eyes twinkling for a moment before disappearing. C.C. glanced at Rolo and closed the door behind her.

Time began again for Suzaku and the guards outside. Lelouch was blank again.

But the spark in his eyes was back.

- - - - -

"_How did the operation go?_"

"It seems the pick up of supplies at Niigata went smoothly," C.C. replied smoothly as she got into the car sent by Li Xingke.

"_I see._"

"However there is no method to get back to the Consulate General."

"_I'll bet._"

She took off her blouse, tossing it to a seat, "Are you talking to yourself?"

"Feh."

In her mind's eye, C.C. saw her Prince, sitting at a table set for two. A bottle of fine red wine sat nearby, a glass half filled. On the table was chessboards, with several pieces missing, all of them white; save for the pink paper crane sitting in the middle of the board. Lelouch tapped his fingers on the table, a black King in his hand.

C.C. joined him, conjuring a chair to appear next to him, "What troubles you?"

Lelouch said nothing his left eye glowing onmiously in the darkness.

"The new governor is Nunnally."

"Will you be able to fight your sister?"

The tapping stopped. "Fight? Nunnally? Is that some kind of joke?" Lelouch said, scoffing at the audacity of the notion.

"So you'll just let things happen?"

He shook his head, a frown creasing his smooth forehead, "Out of the question. At this rate Nunnally will become nothing more than a political tool…like last time."

"The blind girl who cannot walk on her own," murmured C.C. as held a massive plush doll to her chess, looking pensive.

"Do they plan on using her and throwing her away like a pawn, eh?" He swept the win bottle from the table, sending it crashing to the imaginary floor, the liquid forming a puddle of blood red wine. His eyes grew angry, the fire roaring inside, "I stood up to prevent that from happening! That is the purpose of the Black Knights! Zero is for Nunnally's sake!"

"I know this is the reason you live for, but…"

Lelouch calmed himself and strengthened his resolve. "I _will_ create a world where Nunnally can live peacefully. For that, I _will_ destroy Britannia!" With a slam of his hand, he sent the black King into the chessboard, shaking the table, sending all the white pieces falling to the ground leaving only the crane and the King on the board.

"We're here, Lelouch. Its time."

"Lend me your body," he replied softly. C.C. nodded and let her mind retreat, allowing her Prince to assume control of her body.

Lelouch examined his temporary vessel, clothed in his Zero Persona, save for the mask in front of him, "Not bad. It will do nicely."

"You are welcome by the way."

A grin flickered across C.C.'s face for a second before Lelouch clasped the mask to his face, "In other words thank you, C.C."

As lelouch got used to walking in her body, she wandered back to the chess set, picking up the Crane in her hands gently. Only C.C. appeared to have noticed, but the white knight remained standing next to the crane.

* * *

**Part 1 up. Part 2 will be finished soon later today. I'll be posting up a question later. Happy R&Ring! **

** - Tabi**


End file.
